Review Category: DVD/Blu Ray

Released in 2007, David Cronenberg’s Eastern Promises made its way on to many critic’s Top 10 films of the year list. The film’s subdued blend of gangster intrigue and unflinching realism garnered praise and award nominations in equal measure and now receives a Blu-ray release from Australian label Umbrella. But does it still carry the same resonance?

Well, yes and no. If you’re already a fan, there’s little to add. The Blu-ray extras are interesting and offer some depth into the film’s themes. The ritualistic, symbolic tattooing that decorates the Russian mafia’s bodies is fascinating in its usage, and just talking about Eastern gangsters populating London feels forebodingly prescient. But the film itself is somewhat disjointed.

Whether it is the editing, pacing, or in the script itself, the story meanders with tangential threads left unresolved. There is a twist – of course there is, but we won’t spoilt it here – which remains unexplored, and the way the central plot concludes feels unsatisfying.

Where Eastern Promises does excel, and why the film is inherently watchable, is in the performances. Vincent Cassell is impressive in his unrestrained desperation, Armin Mueller-Stahl broods malevolently in a godfather role that channels Brando in several scenes, and, with perhaps the exception of Naomi Watts’ misplaced midwife, the support is uniformly excellent. But it is Viggo Mortensen who stands out, faultlessly portraying a character who effortlessly conveys a volatile combination of time-served weariness and explosive violence.

If you loved Eastern Promises first time around then this is a worthy addition to your collection. If you didn’t, borrow it from someone who did. This is a good film, but it may well leave you slightly disappointed at the end.

LX 2048 contains multiple sci-fi concepts and influences, from A Brave New World to Danny Boyle’s Sunshine; however, it fails to add anything new to ideas that have been previously explored with more skill, resulting in a boring watch.

The year is 2048 and the sun has become too powerful, leaving most people unable to venture out in the daytime, instead they are plugged into ‘the realm’, a sophisticated VR playground where you can happily live out your life. Most of the population are also hooked on Lithium X, a drug which makes you happy and accepting of this ‘brave new world’. Adam Bird (James D’Arcy) is one of the few who rejects the status quo. He isn’t having a great time, having been told by his cloned doctor that he is dying from a heart condition, and being stuck in a messy divorce with his wife. Due to the film’s budget, we regularly see Adam with a headset on interacting with the realm but are unable to witness it, this initially gives way to some fine acting, but ultimately becomes frustrating. Adam is desperately trying to provide for his kids before he is replaced by a clone of himself (this happens to everybody in 2048 apparently).

There are some fine actors on display, including Anna Brewster as Adam’s nasty wife and Delroy Lindo as a tech genius whose role becomes inconsequential. Director and writer Guy Moshe clearly had a lot of interesting things to say about humanity and technology but unfortunately it is tied up in a claustrophobic affair, with unpleasant characters and tedious scenes, with the finale turning into an elaborate farce. Skip this drug and experience the real world – socially distanced, of course.

Each man creates his own heaven, his own hell. The immortal words from Roger Corman’s The Masque of the Red Death starring Vincent Price. The horror legend plays Prince Prospero, a Satan worshiper, who has lavish parties in his medieval castle whilst tormenting and ridiculing his guests all the while. While all this is going on, the mysterious red death plague is laying waste on the nearby town’s peasants.

The film gets its UK Blu-ray debut from StudioCanal in a fantastic package. Two versions of the film are presented here: the theatrical cut and the extended cut, restored by Martin Scorsese’s Film Foundation. However, only the latter version appears to be from the 4K 35mm scan. The transfer is stunning; all the vivid colours and textures that the movie is famous for appear much richer. That said, the original theatrical cut does hold up quite well.

The Blu-ray set holds a host of special features. Firstly, there is a fact-filled commentary track for the extended version by Kim Newman and Sean Hogan. There is also a 10-minute interview with Keith Johnston, who covers the film’s colour and censorship as well as analysing cinematographer Nicolas Roeg’s work on the film. The booklet covers some of the same aspects. Unfortunately, as the interview starts, it appears as though we are coming in halfway through a conversation, and there is also an odd sound jump at around the three-minute mark.

The best of these extra features is Roger Corman filmed in conversation with Kim Newman at BFI. The interview runs over an hour, in which we get to hear the history of Roger Corman’s Edgar Allan Poe films; perfect for both fans of the movies and those new to Roger Corman.

Release Date: January 25th

Based on Travis Walton’s book in which he describes his abduction by aliens, Fire in the Sky has gained a cult following since its release nearly 30 years ago. Re-watching with fresh eyes, the film stands up above and beyond the initial reaction and presents a compelling drama in a matter of fact way.

It’s the mid-‘70s and a group of loggers – led by Mike (Robert Patrick) – walk into a bar. They are sullen-looking and ignore the greetings of their friends. After a brief discussion between themselves, they decide to call the police and tell their story. It’s a tale so outlandish that the sheriff calls in a state investigator (Hollywood legend James Garner) to help out. They tell him that while coming home, they saw what looked like a fire on the other side of woodland. One of the group, Travis (D.B. Sweeney), got out to look closer but was zapped by a sudden light coming from what they describe as an alien craft. When Mike went back to find Travis’ body, he was gone.

The first hour or so of the film focuses on the reaction and treatment of the group by the police and residents of the small town they live. Accused of Travis’ murder, things are hard for them. This portion of the story resembles a TV movie of the week affair (likely due to director Robert Leiberman having a long career in various long-running TV shows), but is never less than enthralling. Once Travis reappears – naked, bloodied, and scared – the focus switches to his adjustment to life following his experience. We’re shown in spectacular fashion what happened to Travis when he was abducted, and it’s introduced in a natural, powerful way. The effects are brilliant and genuinely terrifying. Thankfully, as it was mostly physical effects, they have aged really well; much better than they would have done if they were CGI.

Sweeney portrays the aftereffects of the abduction brilliantly, but the scenes inside the alien craft show a true versatility the actor has. Likewise, the ensemble cast that are the focus of the first part of the story are convincing and provide a real sense of believability.

Australian label Imprint has presented Fire in the Sky on Blu-ray for the first time worldwide, and included a wealth of extra features. All recently recorded, there’s an informative commentary from director Leiberman, and some great featurettes including audio recordings with actors D.B. Sweeney and Robert Patrick, and composer Mark Isham. The highlight, though, about the impressive special effects work of art director Hartley Jessup and VFX supervisor Michael Owens.

Fire in the Sky is one of the better and more believable ‘based on a true story’ movies and is worth checking out if you haven’t seen it over the years since its release. For those who have, it’s time to revisit it.

Where to begin to actually describe this farrago of a movie that looks like it was made back in the 1980s by someone who thought Starcrash and The Last Starfighter were the way forward for sci-fi cinema? If so, then how misguided could such a person be?

The ‘plot’ concerns a teenage girl called Sarah (Isabelle Allen) who spends her time in her room obsessively playing video games, particularly one called The Intergalactic Adventures of Max Cloud. For reasons too baffling to comprehend, she suddenly finds herself transported into this less than visually- appealing game to accompany its titular hero in his battle to defeat a singularly unimposing villain (John Hannah) and his henchwoman (Lashana Lynch), who are intent on releasing some of the most dangerous beings in the galaxy from an intergalactic prison. Ho hum!!!

The only way Sarah can escape this game is to complete it and to this end she is helped from her New York bedroom by her pratfalling boyfriend known as Cowboy, who is now in control of the game in his own inept fashion whilst being harangued by Sarah’s unhelpful father. Hero Max Cloud is a brash, square-jawed braggart given to exclaiming “Have no fear, Max Cloud is here” before punching and kicking an array of easily defeated bad robots. He is portrayed by prolific British action star Scott Adkins, who is one of the best exponents of martial arts in cinema history. Not so here as the fight scenes are poorly choreographed and will likely damage the appeal of the star to those unfamiliar with his previous work. One can admire Adkins for wishing to test himself in the field of comedic spoofery but this is just awful lame stuff and only Lashana Lynch (eventually to be seen in the Bond movie No Time to Die) emerges from this mess with any semblance of credibility. As for John Hannah, what must have he been thinking of when he signed up for this nonsense, delivering a laughter-free pantomimic performance?

Max Cloud really can’t be recommended to even the most undemanding of sci-fi fans. If you were hoping that the CGI might have been a saving grace… well, don’t get us started. Director Martin Owen currently has two more films in post-production. Our breath is not bated.

Release Date: January 18th, 2021

Rarely seen these days, co-writer and director Gilberto Gazcón manages to create a tense film out of a simple story.

Set in a tiny Mexican mining town, Hollywood legend Glenn Ford plays the town’s doctor, Reuben. He’s a troubled man, who has become dependent on booze following the death of his wife. A band of travelling ‘showgirls’ have hit the town, and one of them, Perla (the great Stella Stevens), takes a shine to the Doc, despite his shortcomings. Unfortunately, he is bitten by a dog, which he later finds has rabies. Reuben has 48 hours to get to the nearest town’s hospital before he succumbs to the effects of the disease. The trip won’t be easy, though.

Available on Blu-ray for the first time worldwide thanks to Australia’s Imprint label, Rage is a low-key film that shines higher than its aspirations. There’s a genuine excitement to the against-the-clock trip made by the doctor and his friend (who joins him after he has to break into his time allowed to perform a caesarean on his wife). A rickety bridge provides some Wages of Fear-type tension and the Mexican setting makes it an all-round sweaty affair. Ford is remarkable as the drunken doctor filled with self-doubt and pity, Stevens is a sultry presence, and the local cast brilliantly add flavour. This is a US-Mexican production, with the majority of the cast and crew come from south of the border, and the location footage really stands out, giving us a feel of a contemporary western. The edge-of-your-seat final moments are worth the price of admission alone.

For its Blu-ray debut, there are limited extras. However, what we get is good: the commentary provides plenty of info on the background and filming, and the video essay on Stella Stevens is interesting. The film itself looks lush and colourful, and certainly does the material justice. It may be a minor film, but it’s great seeing it given so much attention.